Reuters correspondent Gould dies at 54

Reuters editor in chief Steve Adler sent the following message to the editorial staff:

Dear colleagues, It’s with great sadness that I have to share with you the terrible news that Jonathan Gould, our dear colleague in Frankfurt, passed away on Sunday, a few days after a complicated heart operation.

Jonathan would have celebrated his 54th birthday on November 6. He was hugely popular among his colleagues – good-natured, generous and immense fun to be with. Many people have been in touch to tell stories about his warmth, friendship and outstanding sense of humour. His death leaves a huge hole in the Frankfurt bureau.

A U.S. citizen and native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jonathan lived in France, Britain, Italy, Belgium and Germany and was fluent in all their languages. Jonathan joined Reuters in April 2000 in Frankfurt. His work included five years reporting on the European Central Bank, including the launch of the euro. Colleagues remember his ability to recite at will all the statements that followed the Maastricht Treaty from central bankers who thought monetary union was a lousy idea.

In 2006 Jonathan became a correspondent for the German banking industry, specializing in insurance and regulation. He was also one of the few people in the newsroom who could turn his hand to any aspect of the news file.

Prior to Reuters, Jonathan worked for Market News International in Frankfurt and in PR and as a journalist in Brussels. Jonathan completed a Masters in International Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington and Bologna.

He was a big opera fan and an avid gardener. Jonathan leaves his wife Catherine and two daughters: Alexandria who lives in the United States, and Josephine, a regular visitor to our Frankfurt office. Our deepest condolences and thoughts are with his family.

Chris Roush is the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.